Luma and I have been having some trouble with our running water. I mean, we’re thankful to have running water in the first place, because not all Moldovans do. Running water is more common in larger cities and towns in Moldova, and less common in rural villages. So really, we’ve been fortunate to find a place with running water and avoid any major problems up until this point.

But it’s started to come and go this week. And today, we left for work, and haven’t had water since. And we don’t know why.

So today, we began another adventure. We bought some buckets, and made a trip to the nearest well. We’ve got to keep water around for drinking, bathing, cooking, washing dishes, doing laundry, and…flushing the toilet. So we’ll see how this goes!

Side note: I have to say, having a partner/roommate in all of this makes the whole experience a lot more enjoyable! Only wish I had remembered to bring my camera with me to the well…

I read through it, with a little help from Google Translate, and then I started to ask my colleague questions, just to make sure I’d gotten it right. (You can translate the article yourself with the help of Google Chrome, but the translation is awful.)

Basically, the article explains that the Mayor’s office, along with a local water company, have decided that, from May 7 to September 1, running water in Ialoveni will be delivered according to a schedule in areas of the town where increased consumption in the summer causes water pressure to fall. Houses in Ialoveni will be divided into two sectors, determined by street. Houses in the first sector will have running water on even dates, but on odd dates, water will be disconnected. Houses in the second sector will have running water on odd days, but on even days, water will be disconnected.

“Is this normal for Ialoveni?” I asked my colleague. No, it’s not normal, he said, it’s “something extraordinary” (which better translates “something out of the ordinary”).

“Did they do this last summer?” I asked. No, he said, and proceeded to explain that this is likely a response to a dry year. The amount of water available is lower than normal.

The crazy thing about all of this is that the article concludes by saying that apartments will not be affected. That’s me. I’m in an apartment. I don’t quite know how I escaped that one. In fact, I even feel a little guilty (it’s a Peace Corps Volunteer thing…we feel guilty when we’re not “roughing it”). However, knock on wood, I will only appreciate my running water that much more this summer.

But I wanted to share because I think it’s always interesting to hear how different government bodies respond to obstacles concerning distributing scarce resources.